As far as I am concerned, the "excess" cash should have already...

As far as I am concerned, the "excess" cash should have already been returned.

Returning the majority capital (cash) was set in motion June 2023
re: "The Company has already commenced the steps required to undertake a return of assets so that there is no unnecessary delay in delivering this in the event the Process does not deliver an outcome. Currently, these steps relate primarily to the process of obtaining a class ruling from the Australian Tax Office as to the tax treatment on the return of Assets. Any return of Assets will also require shareholder approval."
~ companies I have researched that has returned excess capital (cash) back to shareholders have completed the task (including a meeting to vote) in a 3 month time frame!

6 months later ........
re: "The Company continues with the process of obtaining a class ruling from the Australian Tax Office as t the tax treatment on the return of assets to Firefinch shareholders.

Questions:
Why is or has the Company retained the cash versus distributing it back to shareholders?
~ (opinion) the return of cash was not reliant on the sale of Morila nor any outcome of the Corporate transaction.

Why has the Company engaged international renowned lawyers for what was purportedly only "good faith" discussions?
~ interestingly that these good faith discussion were instigated by the Mali government rather than offered by the Company.
++ it actually adds some credence to social media comments that Firefinch would not come to the table with the Morila managers, hence they requested assistance from the government --- and here we are!

When & why did the dynamics of the "good faith" discussions change to negotiations with numerous ministers sitting at a commission that was set up?

Just a reminder,
~ the 1/2 yearly audited financial report for period ending 30th June 2023 is still outstanding,
~ the yearly financial report has now also become over due.
~ all the above retuning of assets, Leo shares will occur after the Company has been delisted.

One burning question - call me a pessimist, and it revolves around the last paragraph under Corporate Review in the recent quarterly activity report;
re: "Subject to the outcome of the class ruling, shareholder approval, and the Leo shareholding coming out of ASX escrow in June 2024, the Company may then be in a position to distribute the Leo shares."

What if they are not in a position to distribute the Leo shares?
What if the advice received that they could walkaway from Morila was flawed?
What if there is an "oh, shit" moment in these negotiations that will necessitate the sale of the Leo shares to cover whatever the outcome of the Mali Commission is?

Will the Company need approval to "sell" the Leo shares once the escrow period expires?
~ they didn't need shareholder approval when they sold the initial parcel of LLL shares.

Companies sell "investments" without shareholder approval all the time, the Firefinch board has already demonstrated 2 things;
1: That it will willingly ad hoc sell company assets,
2: Has no regard to any (actual) financial loses when actioning a sale.

cheers